Brie and baguette is one of life’s simplest pleasures, to be enjoyed anywhere from a park bench to halfway up a mountain, and with no knife or kit required. It’s a soft, white, mould-ripened cheese made from raw or pasteurised cow’s milk, and has a characteristically soft texture. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Gently warmed milk is separated into curds with rennet, then inoculated with Penicillium candidum (sometimes called P camemberti), which gives it that characteristic flavour and white mould rind. It’s then transferred to moulds, salted and ripened for a month or longer. It originally hails from the Brie region in northern France. I tasted each cheese at room temperature, after giving it at least an hour’s rest. That’s because packaging, long storage and refrigeration tend to intensify the natural farmyardy ammonia created by the ripening process, and by giving the cheese time to breathe, those intense aromas soften and dissipate. It’s my ambition to judge the World Cheese Awards …